The Blessed Buddha once said:What, now, is this Noble Truth on the Elimination of all Suffering? It is the complete fading away & irreversible elimination of all Craving, the rejection & leaving of it, & the liberating release from it! SN 56:11

But where may this craving vanish, where may it be extinguished? Wherever in the world, there are delightful and pleasurable things!Right there and then may this craving be overcome, and quenched...DN 22

Be it in the past, the present, or in any future, whatever true recluse considers all delightful, attractive & pleasurable things in this world as impermanent anicca, as miserable dukkha, & as without a self anatta, as diseases & as cancers, it is he who conquers craving... SN 12:66

By final fading away and elimination of craving, clinging also ceases; By the elimination of clinging, the process of becoming also ceases;By the elimination of the process of becoming, rebirth also ceases; Through the elimination of all rebirth, all decay, ageing & death!, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, & despair is finally extinguished... Only that is the eradication of this entire mass of Suffering... SN 12:43

I have a question for you.Would you rather have a life filled only with happiness,or one sprinkled with doses of suffering.

In my case ,I do not believe suffering is a necessity in life.

Loong

After having studied Buddhism for so long, I would say that I agree with you, because I know what is meant by 'suffering' in Buddhism (or at least at the level of understanding I am at -there is always more to understand.) But I think for many people this word 'suffering' is confusing. Many people ask me, how can you ever say suffering is avoidable, when things like what happened today in Connecticut, with 27 people killed, including 20 children, occur? How can we say suffering is avoidable for those parents? Should we not mourn or feel their pain?

It is no an easy thing to reconcile the idea of moving beyond suffering and the idea of openheartedness in Buddhism. It is easy intellectually, but not to really reconcile it within one's own being. In many ways I think it is the heart of the path - to learn how to hold the pain of the world in one's heart, not to deny it (which is what too many seekers do in the name of detachment I find), but to hold it in one's heart with loving compassion, and still to feel the peace of existence at the same time. Really, to hold both the joy and sorrow of existence in one's heart, denying nothing. This is to know oneself as the universe.

The Blessed Buddha once said:What, now, is the Second Noble Truth on the Cause of Suffering? The Cause of suffering is Craving, which bound up with pleasure and desire, delighting now here, now there, gives rise to renewed rebirth! SN 56:11 But where and when does this Craving arise and take root?Wherever in the world there are delightful and pleasurable objects, exactly right there & then this craving arises, takes root & grows...The eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, ideas, thoughts, mental states, consciousness of sensation, sense contacts, feelings born of contact, perceptions, intentions, cravings, thoughts, & reflections are all attractive and pleasurable: Right there & then this toxic craving arises, roots & grows...This is called the Noble Truth on the Origin of Suffering! DN 22

Feeling is the Cause of Craving:If perceiving a form, sound, smell, taste, touch, idea, or mental stateas pleasant, then one is attracted: Right there craving, greed, desire,lust, longing and urge is born. Pleasant feeling thus causes Greed!If perceiving the sense object as unpleasant, then one is repelled:Right there hate, anger, aversion, antipathy, and opposition is born!Unpleasant or painful feeling thus causes Hate & all its derivatives!If perceiving the object as neither pleasant nor unpleasant, then oneis disinterested, and thus neither observes nor examines the object:Right there Ignorance, neglect, unawareness, and disregard is born...Neutral & indifferent feeling thus causes Ignorance to arise! MN 38 The 3 kinds of Craving:1: There is craving for Sensing forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, ideas, thoughts and mental objects & states! (This is K&#257;ma-Tanh&#257;)...2: There is craving for Becoming this or that like rich, healthy, famous,beautiful, respected, successful & adored etc. (This is Bhava-Tanh&#257;)... 3: There is craving for Non-Becoming this or that like poor, sick, dead,ignored, disregarded, ugly, failed & despised. (This is Vibhava-Tanh&#257;)...DN 22

Loong's comment:As one can see suffering in Buddhism might be different than in other paths.

That is what I have forgotten.Beind obsessed with learning Buddhism.Other tools brought me to buddhism ,and had put them aside as if

they were outdated or something.Fighting a Man's cold right now.

I have not have one in 2 years.So last nite I remembered the power of creation by the mind.So I am repeating ,the word health,health..Already feeling adifference.TO Normand/loong never put the old tools too far awaythey worked before why not now.

Hi Loong, that's great. I think 'tools' is the right word. I have a lot of tools that I use, especially for health. Why not? Buddhism is about awakening, but the development of mind that meditation brings about evolves other skills as well. As long as we don't allow them to distract us from the path or our ethics, there is no problem. I think there are many types of meditation - some would call what you are doing to heal yourself a kind of meditation too.